Maresca's City barely survive Bournemouth in a truly wild Etihad opener

Marcus Tavernier’s first-half goal. That put Bournemouth up. Looked like it might just ruin Marco Rose’s away debut. City just dragged themselves through most of that afternoon. Erling Haaland, bless his heart, missed some absolute sitters. And whatever experimental formation the home side cooked up? Pure chaos. Disjointed, wasteful. Then the 84th minute hit. Marc Guehi, somehow shoved into central midfield, connected with a Rayan Cherki corner. Goal. Level. Stoppage time, then. Gvardiol looked clearly offside. He slotted one home. Two. VAR, the usual hero/villain, stepped in. It saved them. Without it, that was a loss. A dramatic, ugly loss. Post-match, Maresca acted all candid. Said his "system" was "a work in progress." Right. Guehi in central midfield, really? That raised more than a few eyebrows. Maresca claimed he’d always seen the Palace defender there. Sure, Jan. Cherki, though. Subbed on, and he actually delivered. "Unbelievable impact," Maresca gushed, and fair enough. Both assists came from him. This kid's got 12 open-play Premier League assists since last season. Nobody else in the league touches that. This City starting eleven? Their youngest in an opener since the 2008/09 season. They were damn lucky to get three points. Trailing at home that late and still winning? That hasn't happened since the last day of their 2011/12 title run. Tells you everything.